Subject: What’s that bug? Geographic location of the bug: Miramichi, NB Date: 09/03/2017 Time: 04:59 PM EDT This little flew away after I tried several times to get it off my hand by trying to put it on a flower but it just didn’t want to let go! How you want your letter signed: Linda Burns

Round Headed Apple Tree Borer

Dear Linda, This Round Headed Apple Tree Borer makes such a magnificent Buggy Accessory, we can’t imagine why you would ever want it to leave your hand. We haven’t tagged a Buggy Accessory in a few years. According to BugGuide: “Larvae feed on the wood of apples (Malus) and related trees in the rose family, such as pear (Pyrus), hawthorn (Crataegus), mountain ash (Sorbus) and Saskatoon (Amelanchier). Also: Aronia, Cotoneaster, Cydonia, Prunus. Adults feed on leaves” and “These insects seek out trees which are already weakened due to some other stress. A heavy infestation can kill a tree.”

Subject: An insect that we have not seen on our land in Chilean Patagonia before Location: La Junta, Aisen, Chile April 12, 2015 3:34 pm This insect landed on a volunteers arm while she was working away on our small farm in northern Aisen, Patagonia. We have never seen it before and wonder what it is? In adavance thanks for the work that you do, it has enabled us to better understand our ecosystem. Signature: Paul Coleman

Stonefly

Dear Paul, This is a Stonefly in the order Plecoptera, a species generally found near water as the larvae are aquatic nymphs. According to BugGuide: “nymphs of most spp. develop in cool, well-oxygenated water and do not tolerate pollution; therefore, their presence is an indicator of good water quality, and their absence in areas where they previously occurred may indicate pollution.”

Dear Jason, Your beetle is a Longicorn in the family Cerambycidae, but we have not yet been successful in finding a matching image online to provide an identification. Your Bycid looks similar to a Costa Rican individual we believe we may have correctly identified as Taeniotes scalatus, and it looks even closer to two fighting males of that species pictured on the BeetleForum.net site. Neither of those, nor any other examples of Taeniotes scalatus we have located online, has markings exactly like your gorgeous specimen, so we doubt they are the same. Perhaps one of our readers (Markikavana or Cesar or Karl perhaps) can provide an identity.

A couple more photos attached.

Longicorn from Costa Rica

Karl provides an identificationHi Daniel and Jason:Taeniotes is probably the correct genus and I believe the species is T. praeclarus (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Monochamini), which ranges from Nicaragua to Bolivia. Taeniotes dentatus also looks quite similar, but the range is given as Ecuador to Bolivia. Regards. Karl

Thanks so much Karl. The colors are much more beautiful on the living beetle.

Subject: Strange Beetle(?) with transparent wings Location: Southeast Michigan September 12, 2014 8:28 pm Can you help ID this strange bug I found today, Sept. 12, on my back porch? I found it on its’ back, somewhat tangled in a bit of spider web, and I thought it might be dead. When I picked it up, however, it moved. I carefully removed the web, and it began flapping its’ wings but seemed happy to crawl around my hand. In the 2nd photo you can see exposed what appears to be a proboscis of some kind. Quite an interesting little critter! Thank you! Signature: Kathy

Cicada

Dear Kathy, This is an Annual Cicada in the genus Tibicen, not a beetle, and you are probably quite familiar with the din caused by Cicadas that emanates from the tops of trees in mid to late summer. These Annual Cicadas are also known as Dog Day Harvestflies. For your kindness to this Cicada, we are honoring you with the Bug Humanitarian Award, and we are also tagging this posting as a Buggy Accessory as that Cicada looks quite fetching on your hand.

Dog Day Harvestfly

Dear Daniel, Thank you for your prompt reply and for the lovely honor! You made my day! Go bugs! Respectfully, Kathy Genaw

You are welcome Kathy. We should also warn you that we have received one report of a bite from a Cicada. Many years ago, Vince who works at a Nature Center sent in an extensive comment beginning with: “A few years ago, while working in a state park nature center in Indiana, a young (6 years old) entomologist brought his latest aquisition, a cicada, to show me. I picked it up and let it crawl on my thumb. When I was ready to give it back, the thing wouldn’t let go, and decided to press that sucking mouth part into my thumb. It was pretty painful. They can DEFINATELY bite (or perhaps STAB is a more appropriate term).”

Daniel, You have gone above and beyond with your thoughtful warning! Thank you! I must share with you that, once you had identified by bug, I was compelled to follow up with a bit more research. I was particularly interested in that mouth part to which you referred. As you can see in one of my photos, the cicada had just begun to insert its’ proboscis into my flesh…it was at that point that I set it down on the ground! From what I have read, this behavior was not adversarial or defensive but rather a food absorbing action. I did feel a bit of a sting, but I have no hard feelings nor any skin effect! All in all, my cicada experience was very interesting, and your input much appreciated! Have a great day… Kathy Genaw

Buggy Accessory: Walnut UnderwingLocation: Mount Washington, Los Angeles, CaliforniaSeptember 1, 2013This Walnut Underwing was on the front door in the morning. We spotted it before the sun rose. We waited for better light to photograph it. It makes a lovely accessory on Jennifer’s scarf.

Subject: Beautiful Australian Hawk moth! Location: Herberton, Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, AU September 4, 2013 7:23 pm Hi, I was recently studying abroad in Australia and came across this beautiful hawk moth! I was staying outside of Herberton in Queensland, AU (which is a dry sclerophyll forest), and going on a night spotlighting trip when we spotted this beautiful moth in the beam of our spotlight. It climbed up onto me, and fluttered around my face, and was an all-around magical experience, but I haven’t been able to identify it down to the species! The closest I have found are Gnathothlibus erotus and Hippotion scrofa, but neither have the correct wing shape or the dark line down the thorax that my moth had. Any help in identifying him would be greatly appreciated! Signature: Kristin

Coequosa australasiae

Hi Kristin, In a matter of minutes, we found your moth identified as Coequosa australasiae on Csirowhere the physical traits you mentioned are obvious in the image of a mounted specimen. The images on Butterfly House are not as close, but there is still a strong resemblance. The Australian Museum also has a nice image. The uncropped version of your photograph has to be one of the finest Buggy Accessories photos we have ever received.